IMBRA Question

[ku78201]

I was just reading Gary Bala’s post on Planet Love about the passage of the IMBRA. I read the highlights of the law and it looks like it is limited to fiancée visas. Does this apply to spousal visas too? When I find the right woman, I plan to marry her in her country. Are agencies that are not based in the US required to follow this law?

I do not buy this violence against women argument. If this were the case, domestic marriages would be regulated too. I do not like the way men are stereotyped in this law. In my opinion, this law is not about men. It is about the non-feminist women we marry. Feminist have always felt threatened by non-feminist foreign women. Just my 2 cents.

[Bala]

Hello B7E7,
Yes, the law would appear to apply to both the K-1 fiancee and the K-3 spousal visa, as both visas are now petitioned on the same legal form, I-129F.

Here is the post I previously made for those who missed it:

IMBRA (International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005) has become law. It was passed as part of the Re-Authorization of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Justice Dept. Appropriation, this weekend by Congress, working feverishly before the Holiday recess, after a House/Senate deal.

Senate passed it on Voice Vote 12/16/2005, House passed it on Voice Vote 12/17/2005. The law is expected to be signed by the President shortly and given a Public Law number and published in the Federal Register.

Here is Fox News' report on the House/Senate deal and passage of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) renewal.
(IMBRA was part of the House-Senate deal and passage of VAWA renewal):
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,179001,00.html

READ THE IMBRA LAW HERE:
Go to: http://thomas.loc.gov
Type in HR 3402,
and click the EAS version.

Go to Title VIII, Subtitle D, "International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005".

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEW LAW:
1. New I-129F Fiancee Visa petitions will require the petitioner to provide information on his criminal arrests and convictions for specified crimes, such as domestic violence, sexual offenses, child abuse, stalking, dating violence, human trafficking, slave trade, etc. as well as other felonies such as homicide, rape, kidnapping, violent offenses, etc.

2. Some petitioners will need to wait before they can successfully file for fiancee visa.
For example, IF you filed 2 or more fiancee visa petitions in the past, AND at least one of them was approved, you MUST wait 2 years from the filing date of the last approved petition to successfully file for a new fiancee visa petition.

3. Fiancee and Spousal Visa petition database. DHS will create and maintain a petition database to track multiple visa petitions filed by petitioners, and will notify the petitioner who has been approved for his second petition that his information will be stored in the database.

THE ABOVE PARTS ARE TO GO INTO EFFECT 60 DAYS AFTER ENACTMENT (SIGNATURE BY PRESIDENT)

4. Domestic Violence and Other Information Pamphlet/Brochure, to be developed by DHS and available in 14 foreign languages, and revised every 2 years. The pamphlet will provide information on the K-1 visa process, adjustment of status, conditional residency, marriage and visa fraud penalties, domestic violence abuse rights and where and how to get help, a warning that U.S. citizens with domestic violence and criminal backgrounds can still petition for visas, a notification to the visa applicant that the International Marriage Broker must provide her with background information on each U.S. citizen client, etc.

5. Distribution: The pamphlet will be mailed to the visa applicant as part of her Embassy package. It will also be available at the Consular posts, and on the Embassy websites, State Dept. website and DHS website.

6. Consular Interview: The pamphlet will also be distributed in the applicant's language by the Consular Officer at interview who will answer any questions. The officer will also provide the applicant with: copy of the fiancee visa petition, information and documents on petitioner's past marital and divorce history, past domestic violence and criminal history, and past visa petition history. The officer will also specifically ask the visa applicant if the relationship was facilitated by a International Marriage Broker (IMB), and confirm that the IMB provided her with background information and documents about the petitioner.

DEADLINE: THE PAMPHLET MUST BE COMPLETED AND AVAILABLE 120 DAYS AFTER ENACTMENT (SIGNATURE BY PRESIDENT)

7. REGULATION OF INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKERS (IMBs)
(The law appears to make this part effective immediately on enactment.)

*IMBs cannot provide any contact information of a foreign national lady under 18 years of age.

*Mandatory Collection of Background Information of U.S. clients
IMBs must search Sex Offender Public Registries (federal and state) for the U.S. client
IMBs must obtain a signed certification (written or electronic) with documentation or attestation regarding the U.S. client's past domestic violence and court restraining orders, criminal background, including felonies and prostitution offenses, past marital and divorce history, past visa petition history, ages of any children under 18 of the U.S. client, all state and countries where the U.S. client lived since age 18.
IMBs, before releasing the personal contact information of the foreign national lady to a specific U.S. client, must provide her with all background information and documents of that U.S. client in her language. IMBs must also obtain a signed written consent from her to release her contact information.

END OF HIGHLIGHTS

Welcome to a brave new world.

PS: Yes, I know that there are many legal questions about this law, potential constitutional challenges, amendments, etc. For now, the law is so new, that most people are just absorbing and assessing the full scope of these provisions. Some people think that this law just hurts the IMBs and the "bad guy" petitioners, but the impact is probably greater than that.
Regards,
GB

[Neroe]

I cant beleive this law has passed congress and how it affects those of us who are looking for a mate outside of the US. Gary, can you tell us the genesis of this bill? who or what started this? was it the the Fem-nazis? or is it part of a hidden agenda regarding the patriot act?

Gary, I am not sure if this applies but, does this mean outfits like; amigos.com or match.com could be considered IMB? If they are, does that mean they can no longer have women residing outside the United States post any type of contact information?

[Austin]

very interesting read...looks like us gringos better be double damn sure about who it is we want to bring here because we now have a 2 yr. cooling off period in between petitions. guess you could also say that it will allow you to date more women in between petitions...wink. if they now need to background check us, then we have free right to perform the same process on them. and any issues with family health, secret kids, etc. on her side. i've got a 007 amiga in my back pocket now and ready to go when i meet the next group of ladies. can't see where amigos or match would make much of a difference, as it seems with however you meet the woman, she is a foreigner and will have to come here on a k-1 or k-3 visa anyway, and the info required for said visas is quite similar. having said that, with the added red tape, the process will probably take a substantial amount of additional time for the completed approval. we'll see how it all pans out...

[Lostagain]

There is a real and serious problem with abusive men who bring in foreign brides into the US then make their lives virtual hells. And somehow that does need to be addressed, but that being said, the new IMBRA uses a sledge hammer to kill ants, which is typical of poorly thought out statutes with hidden agendas. And boy are there plenty here. The xenophobes get to keep out foreigners, the angry women get to eliminate competition for the men they don't really want anyway. And the morality police, who like to shove their morality down everyone else's throats, get to regulate yet another aspect of life on our bedrooms. And so the list goes on. Next they will want to impose the same process on domestic marriages.

Enforcement is going to be a real interesting problem, especially when it comes to the agencies that have no US address. The background checks required are already nearly impossible to do and the cost will basically drive legitimate agencies either off shore or out of business. And, unless other countries start enacting similar legislation, foreign bride marriages will be driven off shore to escape the entire process.

Oh, well, there is almost no legislation that has come out of the current congress that is worth one day of their salaries, and this certainly is one more time I can say I wouldn't vote for 90% of those morons currently in congress. ... and the Whitehouse is even worse, but that's for another day.

L.A.

[Neroe]

Everybody in Washington is in bed with everybody. Thats why when these morons in Congress pass these worthless laws, they try to appease everybody. Excellent analogy regarding killing ants with sledgehammers. Boy, talking about restricting your freedom of find a wife, absolutely incredible.

This is the part I was asking about:

"before releasing the personal contact information of the foreign national lady to a specific U.S. client, must provide her with all background information and documents of that U.S. client in her language. IMBs must also obtain a signed written consent from her to release her contact information."

correct me if I am wrong but, it means no outfit whatsoever will allow a guy from the U.S. to contact a foriegn woman through any type of marriage agency (or website) unless all the government paperwork is filled out.
So, in effect all address sellers like Latin euro or Jimmy Cox will probably be out of business. That is unless they want to deal with the paperwork involved or just focus on non-U.S. clients.

[Clay]

If an agency sends information from another country to the USA, I don't think that there is much they can do about it. Besides, most of what we are talking about is private information anyway.

This just got passed in Congress? I havent heard anything in the news media. How are they going to enforce these so called consent forms via websites on the world wide web? Encino has a valid point, how can they enforce consent forms in Colombia, of all places where you can practically "buy" your way for the right price? I would like to hear from our fellow American agency owners regarding how this new law will affect them.